BBC Radio 6 Music recorded its biggest ever audience of nearly 2 million listeners, according to the official RAJAR listening figures out today.
The MediaCityUK-based station also saw a record 27% of listening via online or smartphone and tablet apps – more than four times the industry average of 6.4%.
It’s now more than tripled its audience since the BBC announced plans to close the station in 2010 until an audience backlash forced a rethink by the BBC Trust.
A number of its presenters, including Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie’s afternoon programme, enjoyed record audiences in the last quarter.
“The brilliant figures for Radio 6 Music shows the network continues to go from strength to strength, cementing its position in the digital space,” said Bob Shennan, controller Radio 2, 6 Music, Asian Network and director, BBC Music.
“I’m thrilled that Shaun Keaveny, Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie are all reaching record audiences – with Lauren Laverne leading the charge as the most listened to show on the station.”
5 live suffered a 5.2% drop in reach with 5 live Sports Extra sinking 20% over the year, although it was up quarterly by 32.3% after a busy summer of sport.
On a more local level, BBC Radio in Manchester, Merseyside, Stoke and York were the only BBC stations in the North to increase their share of listening over the quarter.
Andrew Bowman, assistant editor of BBC Radio Manchester, said: “I’m really proud that we’ve not only got more listeners but also that they’re listening for longer. We’ve had some really big journalism in the last few months including following all the developments in Syria and Iraq. We’ve worked hard to give listeners in-depth coverage and perspective on how the global story relates to them in Great Manchester.”
Smooth Radio Network – which re-branded Gold stations as Smooth – recorded an increase of 22.8% over the year. The network was up 2% in quarter three and now has a total weekly audience of almost 4.7m.
UTV Media’s talkSPORT, after recording its highest audience ever in the second quarter, saw a 6.8% drop in the third quarter but was up 5.3% year on year.
Bauer Radio’s total portfolio reached a record 17.1m listeners, up 11.3% year on year, with its Place Local Portfolio now reaching 9.5m.
See all Northern station RAJAR results below:
2014 Quarter 3 Summary 23 Jun – 14 Sep |
2014 Quarter 2 Summary 31 Mar – 22 Jun |
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Survey | Pop’n | Total Hours | Share of | Pop’n | Total Hours | Share of | |
Period | ‘000 | ‘000 | Listening % | ‘000 | ‘000 | Listening % | |
BBC Radio 5 live | Q | 5809 | 38953 | 3.8% | 6276 | 42408 | 4.1% |
BBC Radio 5 live (inc. sports extra) | Q | 6132 | 44141 | 4.3% | 6442 | 45554 | 4.4% |
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra | Q | 1216 | 5187 | 0.5% | 919 | 3145 | 0.3% |
BBC 6 Music | Q | 1994 | 18332 | 1.8% | 1891 | 16252 | 1.6% |
BBC Radio Cumbria | H | 122 | 1207 | 13.8% | 123 | 1126 | 13.9% |
BBC Radio Humberside | H | 183 | 1629 | 10.0% | 211 | 1982 | 12.0% |
BBC Radio Lancashire | H | 194 | 1449 | 6.8% | 197 | 1594 | 7.0% |
BBC Radio Leeds | H | 195 | 1298 | 4.4% | 207 | 1441 | 5.0% |
BBC Radio Manchester | H | 207 | 1846 | 4.4% | 189 | 1689 | 4.0% |
BBC Radio Merseyside | H | 310 | 4719 | 13.6% | 339 | 3888 | 11.4% |
BBC Radio Newcastle | H | 277 | 2202 | 9.1% | 278 | 2276 | 9.1% |
BBC Radio Sheffield | H | 238 | 1669 | 6.6% | 254 | 1856 | 7.3% |
BBC Radio Stoke | H | 119 | 1275 | 9.9% | 127 | 1253 | 9.7% |
BBC Radio Tees | H | 122 | 842 | 5.6% | 138 | 1013 | 7.0% |
BBC Radio York | H | 95 | 779 | 7.4% | 88 | 649 | 6.4% |
Gold Network (UK) | H | 1032 | 7999 | 0.8% | 857 | 6959 | 0.7% |
Heart Network (UK) | H | 9075 | 67403 | 6.6% | 9069 | 66251 | 6.4% |
Smooth Radio Network (UK) | H | 4692 | 36251 | 3.5% | 4602 | 36872 | 3.6% |
talkSPORT | Q | 3148 | 22304 | 2.2% | 3376 | 22726 | 2.2% |
Bauer Rock Portfolio | H | 1861 | 11750 | 1.1% | 1845 | 10878 | 1.1% |
Bauer Place – North East | H | 747 | 5179 | 13.1% | 720 | 5780 | 14.5% |
Bauer Middlesbrough | H | 221 | 1848 | 11.8% | 214 | 1572 | 10.5% |
Bauer Newcastle | H | 529 | 3331 | 13.2% | 508 | 4208 | 16.4% |
Bauer Place – North West | H | 1361 | 10827 | 10.6% | 1413 | 10382 | 10.1% |
Bauer Liverpool (inc. City Talk) | H | 512 | 4534 | 11.9% | 521 | 4296 | 11.2% |
Bauer Liverpool | H | 481 | 4287 | 11.2% | 494 | 4066 | 10.6% |
Bauer Manchester | H | 557 | 3709 | 7.9% | 611 | 4174 | 8.9% |
Bauer Preston | H | 315 | 2584 | 9.7% | 319 | 2142 | 7.5% |
Bauer Place – Yorkshire | H | 863 | 7096 | 11.5% | 843 | 7016 | 11.4% |
Bauer Hull | H | 286 | 2297 | 11.7% | 274 | 2204 | 11.2% |
Bauer Leeds | H | 170 | 1349 | 7.4% | 167 | 1367 | 7.5% |
Bauer Sheffield | H | 419 | 3481 | 13.9% | 416 | 3487 | 13.8% |
Bauer Place – North East FMs | H | 606 | 3735 | 9.4% | 589 | 4227 | 10.6% |
Metro Radio | H | 446 | 2500 | 9.9% | 436 | 3311 | 12.9% |
TFM Radio | H | 163 | 1234 | 7.9% | 154 | 916 | 6.1% |
C.F.M (Bauer Carlisle) | Y | 112 | 1140 | 21.1% | 111 | 1044 | 20.4% |
Bauer FM Liverpool | H | 434 | 3501 | 9.2% | 468 | 3438 | 9.0% |
Total City Talk/Magic 1548 | H | 175 | 1279 | 3.4% | 138 | 1088 | 2.8% |
City Talk 105.9 | H | 77 | 247 | 0.7% | 68 | 230 | 0.7% |
Bauer Place – North West FMs | H | 1206 | 8810 | 8.9% | 1281 | 8728 | 8.7% |
Radio City 96.7 | H | 400 | 3255 | 8.5% | 439 | 3208 | 8.4% |
Key 103 (Manchester) | H | 507 | 3041 | 6.4% | 558 | 3535 | 7.5% |
97.4 Rock FM | H | 284 | 2268 | 9.4% | 293 | 1985 | 7.7% |
Bauer Place – Yorkshire FMs | H | 675 | 4808 | 8.7% | 663 | 4685 | 8.5% |
96.3 Radio Aire | H | 98 | 593 | 5.1% | 99 | 566 | 5.0% |
Hallam FM | H | 352 | 2678 | 10.7% | 346 | 2528 | 10.0% |
96.9 Viking FM | H | 230 | 1536 | 7.8% | 226 | 1592 | 8.1% |
Magic Network – North | H | 672 | 5749 | 2.8% | 622 | 5538 | 2.7% |
Magic Network – North East | H | 194 | 1444 | 3.6% | 193 | 1554 | 3.9% |
Magic 1152 (Newcastle) | H | 114 | 831 | 3.3% | 102 | 898 | 3.5% |
Magic 1170 (Teesside) | H | 80 | 613 | 3.9% | 92 | 656 | 4.4% |
Magic Network – North West | H | 217 | 2017 | 2.0% | 183 | 1654 | 1.6% |
Magic 1548 (Liverpool) | H | 101 | 1032 | 2.7% | 79 | 858 | 2.2% |
Magic 1152 (Manchester) | H | 82 | 668 | 1.4% | 73 | 639 | 1.4% |
Magic 999 (Preston) | H | 35 | 316 | 1.5% | 32 | 157 | 0.7% |
Magic Network – Yorkshire | H | 261 | 2288 | 3.7% | 246 | 2330 | 3.8% |
Magic 828 (Leeds) | H | 92 | 755 | 4.2% | 83 | 801 | 4.4% |
Magic AM (Sheffield) | H | 102 | 804 | 3.2% | 105 | 959 | 3.8% |
Magic 1161 (Hull) | H | 77 | 760 | 3.9% | 66 | 612 | 3.1% |
Total Cheshire Radio | Y | 69 | 417 | 5.9% | 64 | 415 | 5.8% |
Cheshire’s Silk 106.9 | Y | 29 | 192 | 5.5% | 26 | 196 | 5.5% |
Chester’s Dee 106.3 | Y | 40 | 225 | 6.3% | 39 | 219 | 6.2% |
Total CN Radio | Y | 256 | 1951 | 12.3% | 263 | 1995 | 12.8% |
The Bay | Y | 112 | 943 | 15.5% | 107 | 905 | 15.5% |
Lakeland Radio | Y | 20 | 150 | 12.6% | 20 | 152 | 12.7% |
Communicorp UK | H | 3346 | 25339 | 7.6% | 3252 | 25403 | 7.6% |
Capital Scotland | H | 523 | 3216 | 6.9% | 523 | 3691 | 7.7% |
Capital South Wales | H | 208 | 1258 | 6.1% | 184 | 981 | 4.8% |
Heart Yorkshire | H | 447 | 4226 | 7.3% | 370 | 3323 | 5.7% |
Heart North Wales | H | 72 | 423 | 2.6% | 67 | 281 | 1.8% |
106.1 Real XS Manchester (was 106.1 Rock Radio) | H | 123 | 627 | 1.1% | 148 | 676 | 1.2% |
Smooth Radio North East | H | 475 | 3521 | 8.7% | 443 | 3519 | 8.7% |
Smooth Radio North West | H | 1146 | 8801 | 8.1% | 1165 | 9366 | 8.6% |
Capital Manchester | H | 523 | 2727 | 4.9% | 526 | 3324 | 5.9% |
Capital North East | H | 500 | 2571 | 6.6% | 473 | 2727 | 6.9% |
Capital Yorkshire | H | 1052 | 7246 | 8.3% | 1044 | 7747 | 8.9% |
Gold Manchester | H | 73 | 617 | 1.1% | 66 | 576 | 1.0% |
Smooth Radio North West and Wales | H | 73 | 563 | 2.7% | 31 | 249 | 1.2% |
Capital North West and Wales | H | 178 | 929 | 4.4% | 198 | 1155 | 5.7% |
XFM Manchester | H | 298 | 1659 | 3.0% | 231 | 1437 | 2.6% |
Dearne FM | Y | 47 | 391 | 9.1% | 50 | 379 | 8.6% |
KCFM 99.8 | Y | 92 | 950 | 9.4% | 89 | 775 | 7.5% |
Ridings FM | Y | 44 | 378 | 5.9% | 43 | 366 | 5.6% |
Rother FM | Y | 30 | 283 | 6.5% | 35 | 269 | 6.1% |
Trax FM | Y | 87 | 755 | 9.6% | 89 | 785 | 9.9% |
The Local Radio Company Group Total | Y | 536 | 4125 | 10.7% | 533 | 4306 | 10.9% |
2BR | Y | 56 | 496 | 14.4% | 58 | 545 | 15.6% |
Minster FM | Y | 59 | 388 | 7.0% | 62 | 401 | 6.9% |
Star North East | Y | 54 | 326 | 4.6% | 51 | 385 | 5.2% |
97.2 Stray FM | Y | 48 | 331 | 10.7% | 49 | 321 | 10.2% |
Sun FM | Y | 75 | 630 | 13.4% | 72 | 560 | 11.5% |
Yorkshire Coast Radio | Y | 53 | 419 | 17.3% | 53 | 493 | 19.9% |
Radio Mansfield 103.2 | Y | 37 | 338 | 10.5% | 38 | 326 | 9.7% |
Heart North West | H | 565 | 5039 | 4.6% | 531 | 3825 | 3.5% |
Heart North East | H | 313 | 2207 | 5.5% | 243 | 1534 | 3.8% |
Heart North Wales | H | 72 | 423 | 2.6% | 67 | 281 | 1.8% |
Heart Yorkshire | H | 447 | 4226 | 7.3% | 370 | 3323 | 5.7% |
96.2 The Revolution | H | 33 | 187 | 2.0% | 25 | 222 | 2.3% |
The Bee | Y | 55 | 462 | 5.5% | 52 | 497 | 6.1% |
107.6 Juice FM | H | 207 | 1513 | 6.6% | 228 | 1895 | 8.5% |
Peak 107 FM | Y | 98 | 957 | 11.2% | 106 | 973 | 11.0% |
Radio Wave 96.5 FM | Y | 76 | 523 | 10.8% | 75 | 655 | 13.8% |
102.4 Wish FM | Y | 56 | 251 | 2.7% | 63 | 383 | 4.3% |
107.2 Wire FM | Y | 54 | 357 | 6.8% | 51 | 237 | 4.6% |
107.4 Tower FM | Y | 37 | 272 | 3.4% | 45 | 307 | 4.0% |